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Thursday, June 21, 2012

James Lives Just Might Win

MIAMI — Nearly every detail in the portrait looks the same now as it did
then: in the foreground, a microphone wrapped in a red-white-blue
N.B.A. logo; in the background, a bright blue banner reading, “The
Finals.” In between, LeBron James.

The podium appears to have hardly moved in the 373 days since James sat
there in defeat, sullen and spiteful after a six-game loss to the Dallas
Mavericks. His detractors could enjoy their moment, James said, but
they would “have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they
had before they woke up today.”

That LeBron James walked off the stage and into a long off-season of
anguish, reflection and self-help exercises, both mental and physical.

The LeBron James who slid into that podium chair Wednesday afternoon —
one victory from a championship, perhaps 33 hours from ultimate, joyful
vindication — projected neither tension nor satisfaction. Just a Zen
calm.

He talked breezily about his pregame reading routine, his summer
tutoring sessions with Hakeem Olajuwon and this celebrated showdown with
Kevin Durant that seems close to a conclusion. He made jokes about his
Game 4 leg cramps.

The world demanded an evolution, in James’s game and his character. In these finals, he has shown both, leading the Miami Heat
to a 3-1 lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder. James has scored with
ease (29.3 points per game) and efficiency (shooting .472 from the
field), and at all the right times, guiding the Heat through a series of
tight fourth quarters.

He has been assertive, dominant, unbowed by the moment, unfailingly cool under that still-searing spotlight.

“He just seems more at ease,” said Chris Mullin, the ESPN analyst and
Hall of Famer. “This moment, the finals itself, I think all that stuff
doesn’t bother him anymore. What else can he hear? How much more
nit-picking could a three-time M.V.P. take?”

As he sat on the precipice of history, stroking his beard and reflecting
on the journey that brought him here, James considered that dark moment
on the podium last June.

“I was very frustrated,” he said. “I was very hurt that I let my
teammates down, and I was very immature. Like I said, last year, I
played to prove people wrong instead of just playing my game, instead of
just going out and having fun and playing a game that I grew up loving,
and why I fell in love with the game. So I was very immature last year
after Game 6, towards you guys and towards everyone that was watching.”

So much has changed for James since then. He moved his family to Miami,
became engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Savannah Brinson, and
rededicated himself to his sport. Criticized in the past for lacking a
midrange game, James worked with Olajuwon on post moves and spent the
season honing them.

The payoff came in the postseason, and especially in these finals. Where
a year ago James drifted, now he attacks. Where he once settled for
lazy fadeaway jumpers, he now grinds through traffic for layups and
runners, or sets up on the block and beats double teams with his
passing.

In last year’s finals, James averaged 17.8 points, 6.8 assists and 7.2
rebounds. Of his 90 field-goal attempts, 57 percent came from 10 feet or
deeper. In these finals, James has moved inside, taking 60.6 percent of
his shots within 9 feet of the basket.

Once viewed as a 21st century Magic Johnson, James is defying
one-dimensional comparisons. He is passing like Magic, soaring like
Michael Jordan and pounding defenses like a power forward.

“Last night, you see LeBron dominating the paint like Barkley and
Malone,” Mullin said, referring to Charles Barkley and Karl Malone. “But
then you see him in the post, when the double team comes, he’s throwing
out of it like Magic or Bird. Nice, simple play. Then you see him
scoring like Michael, so you get that crazy package in one guy.”

James has scored at least 25 points in all but two playoff games,
joining Jordan (1992) and Olajuwon (1995) as the only players to hit
that mark in at least 20 games in a single postseason.

On Tuesday night, James had his “Jordan flu” moment. After being carried
from the court because of painful leg cramps in the fourth quarter, he
returned and hit the 3-pointer that put the Heat ahead for good.

Moments like that shape a legacy, and James has been modifying his all
spring. When he made his first finals appearance with the Cleveland
Cavaliers in 2007, James was heralded as a pass-first superstar. At some
point, selflessness became more of a fault than a virtue. The Cavaliers
were swept, 4-0, by the San Antonio Spurs.

By the time James flamed out against the Boston Celtics in the 2010
playoffs, it was his mental state that had become reason for suspicion.
When he finally returned to the finals with the Heat last June, James
seemed overwhelmed by the moment and by the expectations he himself
created with his promise of multiple titles.

This time James shows no such frailty. Before games, he calms his mind
with a good book. Once tipoff arrives, he does not distract himself with
silly poses or sideline dances, or gestures to the crowd, as he did in
Cleveland.

“He’s a little bit more focused than I ever seen him,” said the
Thunder’s Kendrick Perkins, who as a former Celtic has seen James a lot.

“You can just see it in his eyes,” Perkins said, adding, “You can just
tell, he really want to win. Like he don’t care how it get done.”